Intro to Lapidary

Bring the rocks you have rockhounded or kept for a special reason and turn them into beautiful wearable stones for your jewelry designs! Learn what lapidary, slab, and cabochon all mean, and leave with a pretty stone you will be proud of!

Description

Starting with your rock, you will use our saws to learn how to cut a slice (we call it a slab), and then you will make a cabochon shape (domed on the top) you commonly see in handmade jewelry. Next, we cover cutting, shaping, and polishing to produce a beautiful finished stone. This class is excellent to take before our metalsmithing class so you can make a piece literally from start to finish!

Skills:

Make a polished cabochon stone
Introduction to lapidary equipment
Basic knowledge of non-precious stones
Leave with 1 to 2 completed cabochons

Materials: Bring your rocks (apple-sized or smaller), or we have some slabs available for purchase, from dinosaur bone to jasper! Headphones recommended.

Prerequisites - No experience necessary, great for beginners! Here is a tip, this is a fun class to take with friends and family (limit of 3 people)! Class time includes the use of tools and equipment related to the techniques.